History, Schmistory

In our travels we're always on the lookout for state historical markers.  You never know what tidbit of information you're going to stumble tumble upon.  Downtown Roanoke, TX seemed like a great place to find a few.  Might as well stop and eat too since they claim to be the Unique Dining Capital of Texas.  In fact something unique can be found at the Babe's Chicken franchise which is housed in a historic building that's over a century old:

It was here that we found the only fake historical marker (or "hysterical" marker, if you will) we've ever seen:

Commemorating the date of Texas Independence, the marker also makes note of the building's nonexistence at a certain point of history.  And hey, that's worth mentioning.  It's also worth noting that the word "hysterical" is misspelled.  I'll chalk it up to a typo since I love stuff like this and would love to see more of it.

As a bonus, on the side of the building you'll find a mural of depicting downtown Roanoke by artist David Larcom:

If you stop by, I recommend the chicken.

McDowner

Sadly, Dallas got a little less interesting lately:

Tile Samples

If you haven't had the opportunity to use the restroom in the Deep Ellum location of Baker's Ribs then you've missed out on some old school State Fair of Texas shout outs.  Here are some of the historic tiles you can find in the men's room that show off some of the retro themes of State Fairs past:

If you have the chance to relieve yourself in these surroundings I recommend picking up some ribs (or fried pies) while you're there.

High Noon

Downtown Grapevine, TX has loads of shops, restaurants and historic attractions.  As of 2012, they also have their own glockenspiel clock.  Instead of yodelers or cuckoos, this one has gun fighting and train robbing cowboys.  You can find the cowpokes making four daily appearances at the Cotton Belt Hotel Clock Tower (which is also home to the Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau):

There is more than one outcome to the gunfight so it may be different depending on when you see it.  Here's what we saw on a Saturday at High Noon:

Denzel Goes to East Texas

One lesser known aspect of Texas history is the success of the Wiley College debate team.  Wiley College is located in Marshall, TX and was founded in 1873 and is thought of as the first Black college west of the Mississippi River.  The school's debate team had an incredibly successful run starting in the early 20th century.  Their 1935 season was chronicled in the 2007 film "The Great Debaters" directed by and starring Denzel Washington.

Washington played the English teacher/debate coach Melvin Tolson.  Tolson taught at Wiley College from 1924-1947.  He was known as an accomplished scholar, poet and activist.

The '35 team from the film consists or characters that were both directly based on specific former students and based on amalgams of various students.  James L. Farmer Jr. appears as a character in the film and was an actual student at Wiley and member of the debate team.  He was a child prodigy and attended the college when he was only fourteen.  He was played by Denzel Whitaker (not to be confused with Denzel Washington, after whom he was named, and is no relation to Forest Whitaker, who also appears in the film.)

His father, James L. Farmer Sr. was a faculty member at Wiley College and was the first African American Texan to earn a doctorate from Harvard University.  In the film he is played by Forest Whitaker:

On the campus of Wiley College there is a historical marker honoring Dr. Farmer Sr.:

The Samantha Booke (with an "E") character was loosely based on Henrietta Bell Wells who was the first women to join the debate team.  She was played by Jurnee Smollett-Bell (from Friday Night Lights):

While they filmed the movie in a variety of locations they were able to shoot some scenes on the Wiley College campus, most noticeably outside the Wiley King Administration Building:

It's always interesting when a little piece of Texas history ends up on the big screen.

Contrabando Movie Set

If you ever visit the Big Bend area of Texas you can't help but notice the landscape.  It looks desolate and deserted and like it's exactly the kind of place you'd see cowboys going about their cowboy type business.  You'd also expect to happen upon an authentic, abandoned Mexican village.

But you won't find one.  However, you will find a fake abandoned Mexican village.  Hollywood producers also noticed the picturesque scenery and built a few "Western type" buildings for the 1986 film Uphill All the Way (starring, amongst others, Roy Clark, Mel Tillis, Burl Ives and Glen Campbell).

Sadly the film doesn't seem to be on DVD so I can't get any screen captures to show you.  But a perfectly good movie set in a perfectly suited environment was too tempting for other producers because a slew of other westerns have been filmed there too.

Here's what it looks like:

And here's a similar shot from the 1995 mini-series, and Lonesome Dove sequel, Streets of Laredo:

And a shot from the 2006 mini-series, and Lonesome Dove prequel, Dead Man's Walk (which has the absolutely bizarre casting choice of David Arquette in the Robert Duvall role):

And here's a view from the other side from the 2001 film The Journeyman:

The main highlight of the little town is the church:

Which, of course, you can see in Dead Man's Walk:

It can also be seen (as well as most of the rest of the town) in the music video for the Brooks and Dunn song My Maria:

The building in the background is sometimes used as a saloon or cantina:

Like it was in the 1993 TV movie Rio Diablo (starring Kenny Rogers in a non-Gambler Western role):

But it has also been used as the offices of a mining company in The Journeyman:

So the next time you are watching a Western, and there's a scene that takes place in a small village, take a closer look to see if you might recognize it.

Elsie Tours Texas

Elsie the Cow is one of the most famous company mascots of all time.  She's spent the last several decades promoting Borden Milk and various dairy products.  She has traveled the country, been awarded degrees, supported troops in multiple conflicts and even tried acting by appearing the 1940 film "Little Men":

 
 While she's not a native Texan, she currently spends a lot of her time in the Lone Star State and her Facebook page lists Dallas as her current residence.  Her and her son Beauregard continue to make appearances across the country but they seem to love showing up to Texas events the most, like the annual Children's Parade in downtown Dallas:

Or the annual Candlelight at Old City Park event:

But one of her most popular visits happens every year at the State Fair of Texas.  A few years ago we shot some video of her appearance and her story:

You may have noticed that she has quite a set up and an entourage.  It takes a lot of effort to prepare for an Elsie appearance as you can see from this video we shot a few years ago at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo:

So the next time you are at an even, if you're lucky, you just might get to meet Elsie yourself.